This is the dominant strategy. You were never going to shop your way out of it. It’s in every genre, every price point, every platform. It’s in single-player games. If we allow this to continue, there will be nothing else.
“Nobody put a gun to your head” will never excuse exploiting people for money.
This business model is inherently abusive, and spreading. I don’t fucking care how little you think anyone needs what it offers. I am explaining why it’s a scam. Nobody should be offered this. They are victims.
In many cases that covers sweets, snacks, etc. as well. Food is usually quite heavily regulated (in the sense that there’s lots of regulation, not that it’s actually strict or as much as it should be), even if it’s not immediately obvious to us as consumers. E.g. there are ingredients that get banned because of being addictive or having certain harmful effects.
Porn is age gated worldwide, and in some cases censored. I’d class that as regulated pretty much all over the world, regardless of how hard/easy it is to circumvent the regulations (e.g. for a 17-year-old to access a porn website).
I think that actually covers all of the items in the list!
Many of these are regulated and require disclosures to the user. I’d like to see win chances for each item tier disclosed as part of opening a crate. They do this in other countries.
Food items require ingredient lists and nutritional information and are subject to many regulations as food in general. Many countries tax sugary items with little nutritional value. Alcohol requires ABV displayed on the bottle and is heavily regulated behind ID laws. Porn probably has the laziest end user regulations but other regulations have happened to prevent abuse within the production of porn.
My teenage nephews play CS and can all buy keys to unlock cases with no age verification.
As he can buy almost everything else apart from alcohol.
Sure, seeing information, be it nutrition in food or odds in games is nice, but doesn’t fix anything. We should demand to ban most of those things outright.
We’re in strong whaboutism territory though. We can look to regulate and fix gambling in gaming without having to examine every regulation problem out there. I think we all agree that gambling mechanics in games are not healthy for people and currently face almost no rules at all.
All I’m saying is that regulation does not solve the problem.
I may have been involved in the gambling scene and no amount of regulation solves anything. Not taxes, not self-limiting options. It does not do anything.
And I’m actually suprised how people act like regulations help with the issues. The problems remain, just are slightly less predatory. Wohoo, we did it!
Yes and people have been complaining about the abuses these companies do with all of these for the longest time. At least all of those have some use unlike loot boxes and other microtransactions.
Only legislation will stop this.
This is the dominant strategy. You were never going to shop your way out of it. It’s in every genre, every price point, every platform. It’s in single-player games. If we allow this to continue, there will be nothing else.
You do realize csgo cases are optional, right?
“Nobody put a gun to your head” will never excuse exploiting people for money.
This business model is inherently abusive, and spreading. I don’t fucking care how little you think anyone needs what it offers. I am explaining why it’s a scam. Nobody should be offered this. They are victims.
So is
Which is why many of these things are regulated, especially if they include addictive substances.
You mean alcohol?
What else is regulated?
As of 2022, 54 countries had implemented special taxes on sugary drinks and/or sugar in general: https://www.obesityevidencehub.org.au/collections/prevention/countries-that-have-implemented-taxes-on-sugar-sweetened-beverages-ssbs
In many cases that covers sweets, snacks, etc. as well. Food is usually quite heavily regulated (in the sense that there’s lots of regulation, not that it’s actually strict or as much as it should be), even if it’s not immediately obvious to us as consumers. E.g. there are ingredients that get banned because of being addictive or having certain harmful effects.
Porn is age gated worldwide, and in some cases censored. I’d class that as regulated pretty much all over the world, regardless of how hard/easy it is to circumvent the regulations (e.g. for a 17-year-old to access a porn website).
I think that actually covers all of the items in the list!
Many of these are regulated and require disclosures to the user. I’d like to see win chances for each item tier disclosed as part of opening a crate. They do this in other countries.
Food items require ingredient lists and nutritional information and are subject to many regulations as food in general. Many countries tax sugary items with little nutritional value. Alcohol requires ABV displayed on the bottle and is heavily regulated behind ID laws. Porn probably has the laziest end user regulations but other regulations have happened to prevent abuse within the production of porn.
My teenage nephews play CS and can all buy keys to unlock cases with no age verification.
As he can buy almost everything else apart from alcohol.
Sure, seeing information, be it nutrition in food or odds in games is nice, but doesn’t fix anything. We should demand to ban most of those things outright.
We’re in strong whaboutism territory though. We can look to regulate and fix gambling in gaming without having to examine every regulation problem out there. I think we all agree that gambling mechanics in games are not healthy for people and currently face almost no rules at all.
All I’m saying is that regulation does not solve the problem.
I may have been involved in the gambling scene and no amount of regulation solves anything. Not taxes, not self-limiting options. It does not do anything.
And I’m actually suprised how people act like regulations help with the issues. The problems remain, just are slightly less predatory. Wohoo, we did it!
…things that are also being complained about often?
Yes and people have been complaining about the abuses these companies do with all of these for the longest time. At least all of those have some use unlike loot boxes and other microtransactions.